RB Leipzig starlet Yan Diomande has once again left Bundesliga audiences scrapping their jaws of the floor. In Saturday evening’s 1-3 away win over Eintracht Frankfurt, the 19-year-old opened up the scoring with a scintillating solo run and finish. Diomande’s literally dusted off three direct Eintracht markers en route to his 12th goal of the season.
Leipzig head coach Ole Werner – reviewing a scene on a monitor while conducting an interview with Sky Germany – noted that he felt Diomande slalomed past up to seven players on his way toward goal. The Ivorian remains one of the most celebrated players in the Bundesliga. Incredibly, the teenage talent wasn’t even playing top flight football until this year.
Diomande’s atypical professional journey took him to many different locales. Last season, the now nine-times-capped Cote d’Ivoire international was playing for CD Leganes in the Spanish Segunda. Early on in his Bundesliga career, Diomande’s lack of punctuality when reporting to training and matches was something that Ole Werner had to directly address.
Ole Werner’s current thoughts on Diomande
“He’s spectacular, sharp, and basically unstoppable,” Werner remarked in his Sky Germany interview. “What’s really special about him is that he doesn’t really need fancy moves. He just relies on his timing, ball control, and speed. At 19, he has a good understanding of the game and knows where spaces open up..He can go far if he keeps working just as hard as he has been and doesn’t get too big for his boots.“
Will Diomande be sold this summer?
Where will Diomande play next season? It stands to reason that the now €75m-valued winger (assuming he remains fit) will be off to greener pastures this summer. Leipzig paid €20m to acquire Diomande from the Spanish Segunda outfit this past summer despite the fact that transfermarkt.de assessed the youngster to be valued only €1.5m at the time.
German journalists scouting Leipzig’s summer training camp quickly got the idea. Transfermarkt quickly raised his estimated market value up to €20m by October. Some reports suggest the German Red Bulls hope to command up to €100m for him this summer. Several Premier League clubs will be willing to pay that amount or more.
Werner speaks on transfer rumors
“That’s not a big issue right now,” Werner answered when asked by Sky about where Diomande will be headed. “It’s an issue that affects every club in Germany except perhaps Bayern Munich. All other clubs have to make transfers time and again. It’s also part of our DNA to develop young players and perhaps prepare them for even bigger clubs. As ”But that doesn’t really concern him much at the moment:
“We’ve managed to replace other players quite well this season,” Werner said with obvious reference to the summer exodus of players like Xavi Simons or Loïs Openda. “People don’t talk much anymore about the players who’ve left. We’ve done a good job with scouting there. As a result we’re quite happy with where we stand and are on course for the Champions League.“
Yan Diomande jokes about his lateness
“It was different in Spain,” the player himself said in the mixed zone. “This is a different culture. Now they call me ‘the German’.“
